Scratching posts have substantial utility about the house, since they encourage cats and other pets to scratch the posts, instead of furniture and fixtures. However, in order to be feasible, a scratching post must have a relatively large base, so that there will be no tendency for the structure to tip over when scratched by large cats, or other pets.
However, the aforesaid requirement for a large base has created packaging problems in the prior art scratching post assemblies, since the overall shape of the prior art assembly is awkward to package, and since the prior art assemblies require an inordinately large amount of space for display purposes in the retail outlets.
These problems are solved by the structure of the present invention because, as will be described, the scratching post of the invention may be readily dismantled from the base, and the base may be folded into a shape requiring minimal space for convenient packaging and display purposes.
In the embodiment to be described, the scratching post assembly of the invention has a base which may be readily disconnected from the post itself, and then folded, so that the post and folded base may be packaged adjacent to one another, with the resulting package having relatively small dimensions. The carpet covering the base preferably serves as the hinge, so that the assembly can be produced inexpensively and sold at a relatively low price.